Knoxville Smokies cancel Nico Iamaleava's invitation for ceremonial first pitch after Tennessee departure

The Knoxville Smokes have cancelled its invitation for Nico Iamaleava to throw out a ceremonial first pitch this season, the team announced. The former Tennessee quarterback had previously been scheduled to make an appearance before a game for the MiLB AA team sometime this season.

This comes after news broke on Saturday morning that Iamaleava and Tennessee have parted ways, with the former planning to enter the NCAA transfer portal when the spring window opens. Iamaleava was previously set to begin his second season as starting quarterback for the Volunteers this coming fall.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, who was the first to report the news on Saturday morning, head coach Josh Heupel informed the Tennessee team of the program’s decision to move on from Iamaleava as its starting quarterback. It’s unclear as of this report whether Iamaleava’s camp, or Tennessee were the ones to make the final decision.

Iamaleava did go through spring practice at Tennessee this year. However, On3’s Pete Nakos reported the two sides were in active contract negotiations on a new NIL deal ahead of the spring game.

News later broke that Iamaleava was not present at practice one day before the Orange and White scrimmage. And now, the five-star recruit will instead enter the portal during the spring window, which begins on April 16 and goes through the 25.

During his time at Tennessee, Iamaleava sat behind Joe Milton as a freshman before taking over as the starter on Rocky Top. He threw for 2,616 yards and 19 touchdowns, along with five interceptions, in 2024 while helping Tennessee to a 10-3 record and a first-round appearance in the CFP.

Iamaleava arrived at Tennessee with plenty of fanfare as a highly rated recruit. A Downey (Calif.) Warren product, he was a five-star prospect and the No. 6 overall player from the 2023 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was also the No. 1 overall player in the On300 Rankings.

The Smokies are the Double-A club affiliated with the MLB’s Chicago Cubs. They’re currently 3-3 on the young season, and feature prospects such as Pedro Ramirez, Brett Bateman and Pablo Aliendo, all of which land in the Cubs’ top 30 prospects list.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.